The Impact of Rappaport Public Policy Fellows Program on Career Trajectories

The Rappaport Public Policy Fellows program has given graduate students the opportunity to serve in greater Boston for 11 years, with the goal of providing assistance to local and state government and experience to promising young people. One added objective of the program is to encourage public service, especially in the Boston area. While it is hard to quantify the benefits that the program has had on governments, or the full range of experience that it provides, we can empirically quantify the impact that the program has had on public service by comparing the career trajectories of Rappaport Fellows with other comparable students. In this evaluation note, we examine 11 years of data on the Rappaport Public Policy Fellows and their subsequent careers. To provide a reasonable comparison group, we have also gathered data on applicants to the program who made it to the final selection round but did not receive the fellowship.